How close should a pastor get to the members?

[Maple Leaf]

Originally Posted by Rhoni

Maple Leaf,

This is true. Pastors can/should only counsel in Biblical matters. Secularly trained counselors counsel in the gray areas that there is no particular scripture to apply, and there are many.

Respectfully,
Rhoni

I once had an interesting conversation with a trained counsellor. His candid analysis was that psychology was very good at defining problems, but deficient in providing solutions.

I have no problem at all in admitting that I run into people who definitely have problems that I can't adequately define. However, I am unwilling to concede to the Bible being deficient in providing principles to deal with the full scope of human maladies.

Here are a couple of areas that I think that professional counsellors are of value to God’s people:

• In helping to resolve personal disagreements between married couples. I do not want to know what goes on in the saint's bedrooms. Pastoring by its very nature involves a personal relationship, and there are just some things that need to be dealt with by somebody that the counselee only sees impersonally. The Bible provides principles that are adequate to deal with every bedroom problem, but if Bro. Bob likes to wear fishnet stockings on Friday evening, I don’t wanted to be assaulted with the image on Sunday morning. They can pay somebody big bucks to listen to their foibles, I’ll happily stay poor.
  
  
• In helping people over an extended period of time. There are people who have such deep wounds that they will require a lot of time over an extended time to heal. God is able to perform miracles of internal healing that are practically instantaneous, but just as with physical healing, some people’s faith just doesn’t receive instant healing and they must be nurtured until they are well. There are two reasons that this isn’t particularly fitted to a Pastor’s calling: The pastor/saint relationship that is by nature personal can too easily become inappropriate over an extended period of intense counselling; And, the sheer drain of carrying people for long periods of time can deplete the pastor until he doesn’t have adequate strength left for the more primary duties of ministry. Preaching and teaching are the pastor’s first and most important duty.